Behind the Margins

Does operating a large restaurant chain mean bigger profit margins?

In this episode, we sit down with Secret Recipe’s CEO, Patrick Sim Chee Hong, to explore the revenue, costs and profits behind both the chain and its individual restaurants.

We discuss dine-in and delivery sales, the role of in-house production, and the decisions involved in running a restaurant business at scale. Discover how a familiar brand turns meals and cakes into a business and what shapes the margins along the way.

In our first episode, we sit down with Firmin Rieu, a French chef and entrepreneur running a French restaurant in Malaysia, to follow the money through a business most of us only see from the dining table.

We explore how his costs and profit margins compare with industry benchmarks, how he manages staff turnover, and how his customer base shapes revenue. Discover what it takes to turn a passion for food into a profitable business.